1. Field
This specification relates to a slide opening/closing device including a sliding member slidably mounted on a housing member, an opening formed at a position on which the sliding member overlaps when the sliding member is slid in a predetermined position, and a lid for the opening. This specification also relates to a method of restricting a sliding movement of a sliding member, an electronic apparatus, and a mobile terminal device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Published No. 2002-090807 discloses a camera having a slide cover member which is operatively connected to a power switch and can move between a first position for covering the front side of a photographic lens with the cover and a second position for allowing the cover to be separated from the front of the photographic lens, while avoiding a battery exchange when the power is being on.
In this camera, a slidable cover member prevents a battery lid from opening when the slidable cover member moves to the position of turning on the power. Thus, such a configuration of the camera prevents a battery from being removed from the camera when the power is on to avoid an adverse consequence, such as system malfunction, caused by forced shutdown of the system of the camera.
One of housing members, which have been known in the art, includes a slidable cover which can slide in a predetermined direction, an opening formed in an area where the slidable cover moves, and a lid detachably arranged on the opening. In this housing member, since the opening is formed at the position to which the slidable cover can slide and move to allow the sliding path of the slidable cover and the area of the opening can be superimposed on or overlapped with each other. Therefore, such a housing member can be miniaturized (shortened) as much as the area of the overlapped portion.
For this reason, nowadays, the housing members have been designed more often so that the sliding path of the slidable cover and the opening can be overlapped with each other, for example, like a mobile phone provided with a lens cover for camera lens formed on the housing member (such a cover corresponds to the aforementioned slidable cover) and a space for holding rechargeable battery (i.e., a battery holder) located at a position to which the lens cover moves (such a space corresponds to the aforementioned opening).
However, in the configuration of the housing in which the slidable movement track of the slidable cover overlaps the opening, the following disadvantages may be caused when the slidable cover is allowed to move and cover the opening while the lid is not placed on the opening.
1. When the slidable cover moves and slides while the user's finger is placed in the opening without the lid, the user's finger may be caught by the slidable cover.
2. When the lid is removed from the opening and the slidable cover is moved over the opening, for example, it becomes possible to apply force to the slide cover in the direction different from the moving direction thereof so that the user's finger can catch and pull the slidable cover upward. For this reason, if the slidable cover is allowed to move over the opening while the lid is removed from the opening, the sliding mechanism of the slidable cover or the slidable cover itself may be deformed or damaged by the force applied to the slidable cover in the direction different from the moving direction thereof.
3. If the slidable cover moves on the opening without the lid, it becomes difficult to take a material out of the opening and to place a material therein. When the user forcibly tries to take the material out of the opening while keeping the slidable cover moved on the opening without the lid, the slidable cover receives the force in the direction different from the moving direction thereof and may be possibly deformed or damaged. When the user forcibly tries to put a material into the opening while keeping the slidable cover moved on the opening without the lid, the slidable cover receives the force in the direction different from the moving direction thereof and may be possibly deformed or damaged.
Such deformation or damage of the slidable cover can be prevented to some extent by improving the strength thereof by forming the slidable cover itself, the sliding mechanism thereof, or the like using a hard member, such as a metal member. However, for example, when a dielectric member, such as the above metal member, is used for improving the strength of the slidable cover itself or the sliding mechanism thereof in a wireless communication apparatus such as a mobile phone, such a dielectric member may affect on the antenna characteristics of the wireless communication antenna or may cause a difficulty in design or installation of the antenna.
Therefore, the present specification has been made in consideration of the aforementioned subject and responds to demands of a slide opening/closing device, a method of restricting a sliding movement of a slide member, and electronic apparatus, and a mobile terminal device.